You're right Grey Ghost; the device records engine rpm, vehicle speed, braking pressure, and airbag deployment information (not sure about G-force data). Our 03 GM pickup also has it, as do a lot of commercial trucks on the road. I don't know who gets access to the info following a crash besides the police, but I'd imagine that in an "at-fault" crash, or one where someone was making a claim for damages or injury, that someone's insurance company would be privvy to it as well.
They are often damaged during the crash, and the info cannot be retrieved, and depending on the vehicle, some will only record info for 30 seconds after airbags deploy, or after the bumper/impact site crumples.
It was reported on the news as being used just last week here in BC for a logging truck that lost a load of logs which killed two other motorists and injured several more. The logging truck had one and they showed it on the television, hanging out of the drivers side of the engine compartment. About the size of a breadbox... black... some wires attached.... black box. Whaddayaknow.... must be where they got the name from, eh? ; )
There was some speculation that if the driver had let his truck idle for more than 30 seconds following the crash, that the info contained in the box would not be relevant, or would have been overwritten by the more recent data.
Don't go thinking that you can defeat this by just idling your car after a wreck; it's likely going to be stalled out anyhow, or engine parts necessary for its operation will have been otherwise damaged.
I will go the Little Brother route here, and while cynical in general, assume that it's somehow going to help me out if I ever need the police to get data from it. Mind you, I don't race my car illegally, but those goddamn "no right turn on red" signs. #$%**@!!! WTF! I hate those, though I'm somewhat blind to them now, I must admit. zoom zoom.
